You can't have too many hats....

I have been itching to make something from the lovely wool that the energetic Joanne of the Cup On The Bus blog donated to me.  So I chose the lobster red Aran/Chunky? yarn and knitted 2 simple hats.  This was a strange yarn which veered from thick and knobbly to thin but strong.  I sometimes wonder why certain yarns are made and what the manufacturer envisaged being made from them.  In larger quantities, I suppose this would make a good warm jumper.  I had just enough to knit 2 hats and, in fact, one hat is half an inch shorter than the other because I ran out of yarn.  But that is good.  It will fit somebody and I have used every last scrap.

I have run out of grey yarn for the big blanket that is on my crochet hook.  The shop where I bought it has sold out and the staff promised to order more for me.  They didn't, so I went online and ordered it myself!!  While I am waiting for it, I have cast on another hat.  This is also using Joanne's yarn.  When the yarn arrived, I sorted it into various weights.  Here I am combining 2 balls of what looks like 4 ply yarn.  Like all the yarn Joanne gave me, this is very good quality and will make a really warm hat.  This hat is intended for an older child or young teenager, so the subdued brown colour will be perfect.

These hats are destined for Operation Orphan.  They are the last piece in the jigsaw as I think I now have enough to fill a box.  

The Pretty Polly blanket....

I've been taking part in the "Knit a block a week" challenge which is being hosted by Linda on her Linda's Crafty Corner blog.  The people taking part in the challenge are knitting squares from Jan Eaton's "200 knitted blocks for blankets, throws and afghans".  Some of us make our squares into blankets and some send the squares off to charities listed on Linda's blog.

My sister gave me some very bright wool for Christmas and I have been knitting a couple of squares per week since then.  The photo shows the colours fairly well except for the green in the outside rows.  This is actually a bright emerald green, not a soft teal.  This green together with the other bright colours remind me of a parrot, so I have called this the "Pretty Polly" blanket.

The square in the centre is sewn on as a pocket.  This square was an afterthought, but turned out to be my favourite.  At a big stretch of the imagination, it could be the parrot's wing.  That all sounds a bit mad.  But I find sewing squares together a bit more interesting if I give the blanket a personality.  I made it easier by knitting the squares in strips of six which meant the amount of sewing was halved.

The blanket has gone off to SIBOL for eventual delivery to a care home.  The residents use these as lap blankets and a little pocket is always useful for life's little essentials. This is one of my favourite blanket destinations as Sue at SIBOL always lets crafters know when their blankets have arrived.  Her blog is very colourful and full of photos of the blankets when they arrive and when they are dropped off at the care homes.

I had good fun planning and making this blanket.  I have enough wool left from my sister to knit another batch of squares.  But I am going to make hats and other things for a while.  Then a hectic few months await me.  So it will probably be late summer before I start on another one of these patchwork blankets.  

Clearing the decks....

A few weeks ago I came across a family giving away items in their front garden prior to a house move.  I was lucky enough to pick up a bag of wool for no money!  This lovely variegated yarn was in the bag.  I knitted 2 baby kimono cardigans and 1 baby hat and have only inches left....phew!

I love this baby kimono pattern.  I found it on Ravelry here.  It is a lovely pattern, though it requires some concentration.  It is basically knitted in one piece.  The only real sewing is the arms and sides which don't take long.

The hat pattern is also one of my favourites and can be found here.

These items will eventually go off to one of the charities I knit for.  I nearly have enough to fill a box and would love to post it off before the next few months which are going to be frantically busy for me.  I will still knit, crochet and blog, but, for my sanity, will reduce the number of projects in progress to one or two.

A long yarn.....

 I don't mind paying full price for yarn, but I also love a good bargain hunt.  I find it very satisfying to make something useful from these bargains.  So the vast majority of my yarn comes from charity shops, boot fairs and generous donations. The photo shows the amazingly generous donation that "crossed the pond" after Joanne of the Cup on the Bus blog contacted me to ask whether I would be interested in adopting some yarn.  Er....let me think about that.....OF COURSE I WOULD!!

So Joanne filled 3 boxes with yarn and a couple of items that were already knitted and posted them all the way from Ohio, USA to London, UK.  Joanne posted all 3 boxes on the same day.  They arrived here on 3 different days......just one of life's little mysteries!

I had no idea what to expect and was very pleasantly surprised.  This yarn is gorgeous.  Most of it is 100% Aran weight wool which is absolutely perfect for my latest "big blanket" projects.  These, along with some hats and scarves, will eventually end up going to Operation Orphan which is an organisation that distributes clothing and blankets to children in Eastern Europe and other places around the world.  Some of the yarn has been promised to my friend who knits for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.  Both of us will be kept busy for at least a year or even longer.  Many children, dogs and cats will be kept warm by this wool.  

I asked Joanne if I could mention her in my blog posting.  She was good enough to give me more detail about the life cycle of this yarn.

So...over to Joanne.....

Here is the yarn’s trail: my daughter’s mother in law had a dear friend who moved into a retirement home taking only her prized possessions, as the move was a big downsize. Within a week of being settled Marion unexpectedly died. Ruth said she would find a good purpose for the yarn. After some time my daughter Beth told me of the yarn and wondered if I would use it. I agreed, but could not live up to the agreement. I did make winter hats for my granddaughters who live here, one from the wool and silk and one from the aran. I  returned the balls of a blue yarn to Beth’s  daughter, in a zippered bag that would keep the kitty out. One of the rose colored balls you will see has been kitty-fied. Caroline is trying to master knitting. I told Beth I would do some charity knitting with it. So, the yarn is back on the intended trail. Her mother in law, by the way, was a child in the war, set to slave labor on a German farm. It’s a very small world.

Thank you very much for taking this on.

When buying yarn in the UK, I tend to stay within my comfort zone and select from a very limited range.  The yarn Joanne sent me included names I have never heard before....Lopi Light, Canadiana Sayelle and Chelsea Silk.  I'm going to really enjoy trying these new brands.  I can already picture a pile of blankets, hats and scarves.

Thank you, Joanne.

The nearly halfway finished blanket......

I've been working on this blanket for 2 days per week and have nearly reached the halfway point after only 5 days.  It is yet another example of how much faster crochet is than knitting.  I'm repeating row after row of half trebles(UK).  This is approaching a really busy time of year for me and I just needed a mindless project.

The yarn is various odd bits of grey, cream and black Aran and I am following a pattern that was suggested by the random stripe generator which is well worth looking at if you like working in stripes.  

This blanket will eventually go to Operation Orphan which is an organisation that distributes clothes and blankets to children in need around the world.  I was aiming for a final size of 40" x 60" but I didn't measure the first chain of stitches carefully enough. (Slaps wrist.)  So the width is 51".  I might carry on to a length of 65" to balance it out....or I might not, depending on how the mood takes me!

Note to self:  if I crochet this blanket again, I need to chain only 120 stitches for an Aran blanket measuring 40" wide.  If I had done that this time, I would be at the 3/4 point.  Hey ho!

Two more hats....

I needed some light relief from the two blankets I am working on at the moment.  So I have just knitted these two children's hats for Operation Orphan which is an organisation that distributes warm clothing to children in need around the world.

The yarn is a really good quality wool that was donated by Nuns at a convent that was closing down.  I had bottle green, yellow, and a muddy mottled colour and I had fun combining them to make these super warm hats.

The pattern is called "Ellie's easiest ever hat" and can be found in the patterns section of the Loving Hands website.  The site is free to join and there are many patterns available to the members.  It is well worth looking at this site as there are lots of ideas for charity knitting, crocheting and sewing as well as some very friendly chat forums.

This might seem odd......

I have just finished knitting a scarf and fingerless gloves for myself.  This must seem an extremely odd thing to do just as spring is peeping over the horizon.  But there is a good reason.  I occasionally volunteer as a steward in an open air theatre.  The season runs rather optimistically from April to October, so there are still lots of cold days ahead.  The theatre supplies warm coats for the stewards, but there are not enough for everyone who has to stand out in the elements.  The rest of us have to cram as many layers as possible under little cotton tabards.

The dress code for stewards is black, black and more black.  I had a lot of black dk yarn and decided to be a bit more prepared this year.  My requirements are very exact.  My fingers need to be free to take people's tickets and money.  My neck needs to be warm but the scarf needs to be as unobtrusive as possible.  The "Doctor Who" look would not be appreciated by the managers at the theatre.  Both items were very easy to knit.  I made up the patterns as follows:

Gloves

dk yarn and size 4mm knitting needles

cast on 32 stitches

rows 1-11: K2, P2 rib

row 12: [K1, P1] to end

row 13: [P1, K1] to end

repeat rows 12 and 13 until row 44 has been completed

rows 45-50: K2, P2 rib

cast off ribwise on size 5mm knitting needles

sew side seams of gloves, leaving a hole for the thumbs.

I have smallish hands and these fit perfectly.  For larger or smaller gloves, increase or decrease the number of stitches by multiples of 4.  The length of the ribbing and the main part of the glove can also be adjusted to suit.

Scarf

dk yarn and size 4mm knitting needles

cast on 29 stitches (or any odd number of stitches)

row 1: [K1, P1] to end

row 2: K1, [K1, P1]  to last 2 stitches, K2

So, basically this scarf is knitted in K1, P1 rib, but every row starts and ends with a knit stitch.  This produces a scarf that sits flat without curling and has an interesting little "pip" at the end of every row.

29 stitches are enough to make a scarf 4" wide which sounds very narrow, but is in fact wide enough for my purposes.  I was aiming for a scarf that was long enough to fold in half, wrap it around the neck and fasten by pushing the ends through the loop.  I will be able to tuck the ends neatly inside the tabard we have to wear and the scarf should stay in place without constant adjustment.

I could have searched high and low for a plain black scarf measuring 70" x 4".   But for minimal cost I have produced something that is exactly what I need.  I used less than 200g of yarn for the gloves and scarf.  It came either in a bargain job lot or as a generous donation...I can't quite remember.  This is the perfect example of when knitting becomes a time and money saving hobby.

 Last year, the start of the open air theatre season was freezing cold.  Hopefully, this year will be different.  If I don't need gloves and a scarf, I will be very happy.  If I do, then my hands and neck will be warm as toast.  "Lead on, Macduff" as Shakespeare (never) said......a famous misquote, but it sounds good!